Turning the duck world upside down

Ducks make me feel good. Many times I go see the sunset and watch the ducks at the Alviso wetlands, in Northern California. They are 20 min away from home and it is very relaxing to watch.

When the sun is going down, they gather in the water and have dinner while preparing for the night, always in a group.

These birds are not only cute, friendly and funny. They have one of the best performing feathers and body: they can swim, dive, fly and walk. Some are among the fastest flyers in the world. It is amazing how they can adapt to different environments.

They are in many places around us but we don’t really know them.

One thing we don’t know is that we should not be feeding them bread as it has no nutritional value for them and can contaminate their environment.

You can find more information here, as well as what food you can actually feed the ducks with. (Let me add corn. I found this in a Spanish version of National Geographic that is missing in the link above).

When ducks are not well fed, the nutritional deficit can lead to a weird shape of their feathers (angel wings) that makes the bird look like a plane even if his wings are not stretched. They look a little crazy. Next time you see a bird like this, remember it is because of a poor nutrition. Feeding a bird with bread is like feeding it with fast food.

Learn more about ducks and visit the wildlife centers that try to protect them, it will help a lot.

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Photography was a hobby when I was in my twenties, and stopped when I became a mom. By then, DSRLs had replaced SLRs and I chose video, until I created my first Instagram account. Just one year ago I bought a book at the MOMA in San Francisco and I decided to take my camera again and do something different. Why birds? Because they are difficult to capture, and beautiful.